Thursday, November 25, 2010

My paternal Grandma was famous for two things at holiday events. Being drunk out of her skull on Wild Turkey by the time the meal was served, and for bringing "Grandma's Famous Turkey and Noodles".

If you're not from the Midwestern part of America, you might not be familiar with the dish, sometimes served with chicken instead. Some places in the country call it dumplings. But in the middle part of the U.S. we just say turkey and noodles. Chicken or turkey that's been cooked and chopped/shredded/etc and dumped into noodles which are floating in a thickened chicken stock, with lots of salt and pepper.

Really, it's a very "put it in a pot and let it cook" sort of dish.

Not the sort of thing one becomes "famous for"...but I digress.

When I was about 10 or 12, I wanted to learn how to make this dish. It was revered as "homemade" and so I figured my home-economics major Mom could teach me how to make it.

Which she did. We spent hours making the noodles, rolling them and cutting them.

And it was in fact,quite delicious.I was really disappointed though, because despite mine being quite good and having done all the work to make it so - it just wasn't like Grandma's. In fact, it didn't really LOOK like Grandma's.It was at that point that Mom explained to me Grandma's secret ingredient to her home-made turkey and noodles.Reames Egg Noodles. Throw a little flour in the bag as they're partially thawed and shake it up, it makes the noodles irregular shaped, giving them a "homemade" look.

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I, too, was a victim of food fraud. I had always loved my great-grandmother, Mema's, chicken and dumplings. Her recipe was always guarded as a family secret one was only given access to upon marriage. I finally coaxed her daughter, my Nana, into teaching my sister and I how to make them. We stewed the chicken with all manner of herbs and veggies for what seemed like hours, carefully skimming the fat, straining it until it was a perfectly seasoned vat of clear liquid gold. And then Nana pulled a tube of cheap biscuits from the fridge, flattened each one and snipped them into the pot with kitchen shears. (!)

Mema's secret? Toss a bit of flour around the kitchen, in your hair and make sure to get a bit on your shirt. If it looks like you've slaved away making the noodles, no one will make you do the dishes.

I finally coaxed her daughter, my Nana, into teaching my sister and I how to make them. We stewed the chicken with all manner of herbs and veggies for what seemed like hours, carefully skimming the fat,